COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTIONThat time of year when the light fades away. Brewed for the darkness, Fade to Black speaks in volumes. Welcome to Volume 4, the Beer pours pitch black with an off white head. Citrus (bergamot) and roast dominates the nose. Slight sweet malt gets pushed back by initial citrusy hops followed by powerful Italian Amaro, gentian and hop bitterness. Finishing with a pleasant duality of dry roasted malts and hop bitterness.

Poured from bottle into snifter. Dark opaque brown with thin khaki head. Faint coffee/ chocolate smell, not much else. Taste has more coffee and chocolate, much more prominantly. Feel is a little thin, but satisfying. This beer is a pleasant surprise, pretty much a stout, not what I expected. I think mine isn’t fresh, so my rating might be a little low.

Transfer from BA review on 12-4-13-
Served on tap in a pint glass
Appearance – The beer is served a super deep brown, nearly pitch black color with a one finger of tan colored head. The head fades relatively quickly leaving a good level of foamy lace on the sides of the glass
Smell – The aroma is light overall, but consists of some roasted malt smells as well as a bit of a caramel sweetness. Rounding out these aromas are some very light vanilla, coffee, and chocolate as well.
Taste – The taste begins with a sweeter caramel and light chocolate flavor mixed with some roasted malt tastes. A vanilla sweetness quickly comes to the tongue as well as a creamier like flavor, producing a somewhat sweet and roast chocolate like taste on the tongue. A bit of coffee comes to the tongue more toward the end as well as a little bit of a more citrus hop taste with the combination bittering up the taste ever so lightly. In the end the mix of flavors leaves a rather present and smooth sweeter chocolate and roasted flavor to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel –The body of the beer is average in terms of thickness and creaminess with a carbonation level that is rather average as well. Both are a nice for keeping it a very easy drinking brew, although a lightly thicker body may have accentuated the darker flavors a bit better in light of the sweeter flavors. Overall however it was quite enjoyable.
Overall – A rather nice and tasty black ale that is very porter like in my opinion. Tasty and one to try if you get the opportunity.

Bottle... Pours murky and black with a small, wispy, lightly-tanned head. The aroma is a glob of rich fudge blended with a collection of grapefruit, pine and tangerine notes. Medium-bodied and coarse with jazzy carbonation. The flavor is an assortment of charred, black malts, accompanied by a shit-ton of violently bitter hops. Finishes bitter as Hell and retardedly dry.

12 oz bottle. The pour is a dark dark brown or light black with some deep deep red around the edges. There is a nice thin light tan head and some spotty lace. The aroma is big and roasty. There is some light coffee and toffee notes and perhaps a little licorice and a nice light citrus hint on the back end. There definitely aren't the hops that I'd expect. The flavor is very similar. Very roasty up front with a nice bitter hint and the flavor morphs through a good caramel like phase and gets bitterly hoppy on the far back. The mouth feel is good. Not too thin and not overly carbonated. The aftertaste is dry, bitter, and yet somewhat hoppy at the same time. Pretty good.
---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

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